Folding-basket attachment for bicycles



No. s|7,u7. Patented Jan. 3, I899. H. A. MCDONALD & s. NORTON.

FOLDING BASKET ATTACHMENT FOR BIGYCLES.

(Application filed June 3, 1897.) (N0 Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

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FOLDING-BASKET ATTACHMENT FOR BICYCLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 617,117, dated January 3, 1899.

Application filed June 3, 1897- Serial No. 639,285. (No model.)-

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, HERBERT A. MoDoN- ALD and STANLEY NORTON, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful FoldingBasket Attachment for Bicycles, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention is in the nature of a foldingbasket attachment for bicycles, and has for its object to furnish a neat, strong, ornamental, and cheap luggage-carrier for bicycles adapted for ready attachment thereto and detachment therefrom and capable of being folded into a small compass when not in use.

I/Vith this object in view our invention consists in a folding basket of peculiar construction composed of'rings of heavy wire connected together by loops of lighter wire, the improved construction, arrangement, and combination of the parts of which will be hereinafter fully described, the particular points of novelty being specifically pointed out in the appended claim.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which our invention most nearly appertains to make and use the same, we will now proceed to describe its construction and operation, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of so much i of a bicycle as is necessary to illustrate the application of our invention, our improved folding-basket attachment being secured to the bicycle in position for and in actual use. Fig. 2 is a central sectional view of our improved folding basket detached from the bicycle, with one end open ready to receive the luggage to be carried therein. Fig. 3 is a view of the same in end elevation in its folded condition.

Like letters of reference mark the same parts wherever they occur in the various figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings by letters, A is the front wheel, B the front fork, O the front brace, D the head, E the top bar, F the steering-post, and G the handle-bars, of a bicycle of any ordinary or well-known construction.

Our folding basket consists of a series of rings of stiff Wire or thin metal rod, of which there may be any desired number, the basket illustrated being provided with three, (marked H, I, and J.) Secured to the central ringI is a series of wire bows 1, their ends being looped or bent around the wire of the ring loosely enough to permit of their free osci1la torymovementthereon. Theseloopsareconnected at about their centers, by means of twisted wires or small nipples K, with similar bows H, secured in a similar manner to the ring H. Presuming the ring H to be the last ring in that end of the structure, it will be provided with loops H of similar construction and secured in the same way to the wire of the ring H, alternating with the loops II and provided with any suitable means for securing their outer ends together to close the end of the basket. On the opposite side of the central ring I are loops 1 connected by twisted wires or short nipples K to loops J, secured to the ring J, which, being illustrated as the end ring of the basket, is provided with similar loops J projecting out- Ward, secured to the ring J in the same manner as the other loops and alternating with the loops J. The loops J 2 may also be provided with means for securing their ends in their inner positions to close the basket, such means being illustrated as a' doubleended wire hook L. (See Fig. 1.) The basket thus constructed is capable of being converted into various forms, and the end loops H and J when relieved from the engagement of the hook L may be bent out, as shown on the right hand of Fig. 2, to receive any luggage into its interior, the same loops being closely held to close the ends of the basket, as before described, by means of the hooks L. hen empty, the basket may be collapsed into aflat form, as shown in Fig. 3, the loops II and I and I and J being folded outward, bringing the rings H, I, and J close together in parallel position, the end loops II and J 2 being also folded fiat, reducing the whole device to a compact form, in which it will occupy but a small space and may be stored away for future use.

It will be observed that the three rings II, I, andJ are of the same diameter, by means of which they restrict the expansion of the basket at three equidistant points, so that uneven packing will not tend to expand the basket at its center, the center ring I preventing the loops I and I from moving outward on their line of junction with said ring.

e attach our basket to the bicycle by means of a hanger, which consists of a single piece of light rod or wire forming two forwardly-projecting arms M, having loops or hooks M at their forward ends to engage the wires of the basket, the central portion of the wire forming the hanger being bent downward at M around the handle-bars G and steering-post F, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, in which position the arms M will project forward in a horizontal plane and sustain the weight of the basket. The hanger may be removed from the handle-bar and steering-post by detaching the loops or hooks M from the basket and swinging the bars M upward and backward on the handle-bars G as a pivot until they lie in a horizontal plane to the rear of the handle-bars, when they can be slid off toward the front.

In order to prevent thehanger from scratching or otherwise marring the surface of the handle-bar or steering-post, the portion of the wires which are liable to come into contact therewith may be covered with any suitable material.

lVhile we have illustrated and described what we believe to be the best means for carrying out our invention, we do not wish to be understood as limiting ourselves to the exact construction and arrangement herein shown, but hold that such slight changes and variations as might suggest themselves to the ordinary mechanic would properly fall within the limit and scope of our invention.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The folding basket herein described, consisting of three rings II, I and J of equal diameter and parallel with each other, the loops I and I pivotally connected to the ring I and overlapping each other, the loops II and J pivotally secured to the outer ends of the loops I and I by connections K and K and pivotally secured at their outer ends upon the rings H and J, and the loops H and J 2 having their inner ends pivotally connected upon the rings H and J, and the double hooks L for securing loops H and J in their closed position, substantially as described HERBERT A. MCDONALD. STANLEY NORTON.

lVitnesses:

G. E. MCDONALD, G. S. ROBINSON. 

